PHORMIUM (New Zealand flax)

PHORMIUM (New Zealand flax)
Has anyone seen this?I had never seen it (that I know of) until I saw the White flower Farms Catalog(page 53).I fell in love till I saw the price....$65.00 ....EACH????

Is it that rare?
Can it be grown from seed?
Says "They are worth wintering over inside where not hardy" ...DUH,at 65 bucks a peice your darn right they'd come in the house.....

Anyone have some?

Here's a link with some of the leaf colors

http://www.nzbloom.com/phormium.htm

Hi Crestedchik, pretty cool plants, huh? Cool, but not rare. My local Southern States would get HUGE five gallon containers of them each summer- called them exotic annuals. They went for about 35.00 well worth the price. I've not grown them. I can't winter ONE MORE PLANT *grin* but someone local in NJ zone 7 leaves them in the ground and they come back each year.
These plants are big on the West Coast.
Kristi

Being on the West Coast, I can attest that yes, they are very popular out here. They are much softer than yucca, so you can walk by them without harm, and the hybrids come in some lovely variegated colors. They are evergreen, and being from New Zealand, are rated for zones 7-9, it says they will regrow after freezing in zones 5,6. They take full sun or partial shade (P. tenax prefers full sun; the more colorful hybrids require afternoon shade in hot areas), and are very flexible regarding water. Pictures don't adequately show how beautiful they can be, although we can try: http://plantsdatabase.com/go/2450/. The most marvelous one is 'Maori Sunset' -- I had to settle for a 'Sundowner' when I couldn't find MS, but 'Maori Sunset' is far more beautiful, and the bigger it gets, the more vivid the colors are! I've attached a picture of my 'Dark Dazzler' to give you an idea of growth rate (good soil, regular watering) in its first year, planted from a 3- or 5-gallon can (not sure which).

I've seen the pictures of the various Phormiums but because of hardiness and price haven't tried any here in my zone 5-6 area. I wanted to watch more , but must leave. MY hired man, his wife, and I are going to try to blow insulation into the overhead area of the older part of my senior citizen building. I think we can get enough insulation in the 24 x 24 ceiling area to help cut down on our high electrical bill. Hope we don't have any problems and get finished by 3:00 pm as other people have to use the building then. rutholive (Donna)

A quick Google search found the following:

Seed:
Thompson & Morgan: http://gardenwatchdog.com/c/56/
JL Hudson lists a couple varieties, (but it looks like he's currently out of at least variety): http://gardenwatchdog.com/c/31/

Plants:
Avant: http://gardenwatchdog.com/c/13/
Fairweather Gardens: http://gardenwatchdog.com/c/551/
Gossler Farms: http://gardenwatchdog.com/c/427/
ForestFarm: http://gardenwatchdog.com/c/25/

My impression is that seed must be really slow to grow or difficult to germinate. Even on the West Coast, the local nurseries have phormium hybrids at prices of $26-45 for a container (half the size of the starter one in my photo, above), which isn't cheap. Occasionally Home Depot garden dept. will have the reddish-brown or yellow flaxes for $15-20/container, but they don't carry any of the more exotic and colorful ones.

My wife and I used to live in New Zealand. The mature specimens of this plant (and there are a number of kinds ~~~ I am no expert), truly are gorgeous. They are VERY slow growing, however.

I can't think of anyone I know in NZ who intentionally has flax in their gardens (they all want English stuff). Flax grows along roadsides, lakesides, etc., wild.

I have a crazy theory.

In New Zealand, most of the viral, bacterial, fungal predators we take for granted in America do not exist. This is why a plant such as gorse, frequently found as a hedgerow in our hemisphere, has gone wild in New Zealand and taken over many thousands of acres.

Maybe, if we turn this notion around..., bringing a native New Zealand plant to this location means it has no resistance to our common pests. Perhaps it has been hard and costly to develop enough divisions to sell?

I'd be shy to pay $65.00 for a small pot of flax.

Adam.

Yup ,thats why i'm considering seeds....

But not real sure about T&M germination

Crested,

Why do you have doubts about T&M?

I have heard many people complain about the germination rates of seeds they got from T&M....

I just bought some seeds from them,just 2 packs, didn't know about Phormiums or I would have grabbed those seeds at the same time.Haven't started them yet though

I have a New Zealand Flax Phormium growing in one of my beds and I got it at a nursery that was going out of business. The first winter I brought it in the greenhouse having left it in a large container but then last year I put it in the ground. It is a reddish purple color and is about 55 inches tall . We have had some pretty hard frosts, probably close to 15 degrees and mine is alive and well. I also have two dracenas in the ground doing the same thing with them that I did with the Phormium and they have come through the winter so far too. I didn't think they would make it here but they too are getting quite large. I planted another little phormium which has pink, yellow and stripes and it too is coming through my winter so far. Should not be so quick to gloat as we could still get some more severe weather.I don't recall these plants being excessively expensive.

Small ones aren't expensive. Big ones are, though! I bought two small dark phormiums in quart pots that were $9 each, same sizes. Four months later, one is a third bigger than the other. I have 3 other phormiums, two of them very colorful, and they have not grown as quickly as the dark red one that was put in first, back in March. I think this is because the plants will live in cooler weather, but they really only grow well (fast) in sun and warmth.

I just want to say I am very, very jealous of you all that live in a zone that will accept Phormium. Every time I see one in a magazine I get jealous all over again. Darn it anyhow!:)

I'm gunna grow it in pots,put it in the GH in winter....

They have Phormium Green or Bronze at Green Mnt Perennials. $2 for a 32 size plug. Check out the co-op forum

There is some good information on these at this site:
http://montereybaynsy.com/P.htm